Qeexo Closes $2.3 Million in Series A Funding

SAN JOSE, Calif., May 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Qeexo, an innovator in touch technologies, announced it has closed its Series A funding round, with $2.3 million led by Sierra Ventures. Qeexo will use the funding to accelerate market adoption of FingerSense, the company's groundbreaking mobile software, and first to distinguish between touchscreen input from a fingertip, knuckle, nail or stylus, elevating the user experience of mobile devices.

FingerSense radically enhances the functionality and usability of mobile devices by enabling the touchscreen to distinguish between and respond differently to input from various parts of the hand or stylus. The patented technology analyzes the unique acoustic "signature" of physical objects to identify what is touching the screen. FingerSense is software only, and can be deployed on today's mobile devices without the added cost or space of additional hardware. The software gives manufacturers new opportunities to differentiate their smartphones and tablets and to delight customers.

"OEMs are always looking for software innovation that will radically improve the way devices are used, while adding power and simplicity simultaneously," said Sang Won Lee, Qeexo co-founder and CEO. "The current state of touch technology is not the pinnacle of the touchscreen experience. Multi-touch has been around since 2007 and we're elevating the touch experience beyond just swiping multiple fingers across the screen. FingerSense is the first solution in this new rich-touch era."

FingerSense was developed by an exceptional research team at Carnegie Mellon University, led by Qeexo co-founder and CTO Chris Harrison, named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 and MIT Technology Review's35 Innovators Under 35. FingerSense is one of the first technologies from Ph.D. students to be spun out of the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon.

"Qeexo is an example of taking innovations from the lab, refining them based on market need and opportunity, and bringing them into the public eye as commercial products," said Harrison. "We've always had an interest in touch technologies. But the disparity between our hands' capability in the real world and the digital world is significant, and researchers are constantly working to close that gap. We've made a great step in that direction with FingerSense."

The new funding will allow Qeexo to expand its engineering and business development teams and begin to deploy and raise market awareness for its patented FingerSense technology. The company is currently in discussions with a number of mobile device manufacturers to embed FingerSense into their devices or license the software.

About QeexoQeexo is the developer of FingerSense, the first touch technology to distinguish between the fingertip, knuckle, nail and stylus. FingerSense elevates the user experience of mobile devices by making devices more intelligent, more powerful and easier to use. Founded as an offshoot of Carnegie Mellon University's Human-Computer Interaction Institute, Qeexo is headquartered in San Jose, CA, and is backed by Sierra Ventures and private investors. To learn more, visit www.qeexo.com.

About Sierra VenturesSierra Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on investments across high growth areas of Consumer and Enterprise Information Technology.Since 1982 Sierra has raised ten venture funds with over $1.5 billion in committed capital, backed 25+ companies that had successful IPOs, and 50 that had substantial M&A exits. Since 1982, Sierra has continually leveraged the Sierra franchise to provide strategic and operational support, including the largest CIO Advisory Board in the industry, to achieve broad success across its portfolio of investments.For more information, visit www.sierraventures.com.